World Cup 2018: Moscow Travel Guide

The controversial choice that the 2018 FIFA World Cup will take place in Russia should not prevent millions of football fans to find their enjoyment.

From June 14 ‘til July 15, the best national teams worldwide will battle out in 64 games and across 11 cities who will be the next World Champion.

Maybe Portugal will be able to defend their title from 2014.

Most fans will watch the games from their home, but what about those who want to go to Russia?

This 2018 World Cup Moscow Travel Guide will provide you with information about getting around in Moscow, places to see while you are there and where to stay.

Getting Around in Moscow

The easiest way to arrive in Moscow is by plane. Moscow has 3 (!) international airports called Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo.

All of them are located about 40km away from Moscow’s city center. With the following options you can get from the airport to the city center.

Taxi

Taxis will always be the most expensive method of transportation, but at the same time it is the most convenient. Especially if you carry a lot of luggage with you. Be aware of the influx of traffic during the FIFA World Cup in Moscow.

If you get stuck in the rush hour, you could be wasting a few hours. Pay attention to the taxi drivers. During this time, scamming tourist can be very popular but don’t be too paranoid.

Aeroexpress – Train

Depending on the airport, it will take you only a maximum of 45 minutes to get from the airport to the Moscow city center. Big advantage of riding the train will be not only be the price compared to taking a taxi, but that it is reliable.

It will arrive on schedule and you are guaranteed to arrive at your destination within less than an hour. You have to do the extra work though. Carry all that luggage inside the train and run into the danger to be in an overcrowded train.

Ride-sharing Apps

Download Uber, GetTaxi or Yandex Taxi and book your taxi via one of the apps. It is cheaper but offers the same convenience, if not even more, as the normal taxis from the airport.

The chance of running into a scam is literally zero. If you don’t have any mobile data to use on your smartphone, then use the free WiFi at one of the airports.

Moscow Metro System

Once you are in the city center of Moscow, the best to get around is taking the metro. The cost of a single ride ticket is less than $1 USD. On a side note, Moscow has the biggest metro system worldwide.

Where To Stay In Moscow During The World Cup

Whenever you decided to go to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Moscow, book your hotel room as soon as possible. At the time of writing this article, the hotel prices are starting from 3,780 Rubles ($65 USD) for a 2-star accomodation.

If you are not sure yet if you are going, just book the hotel room in advance with booking.com already. If you make a reservation and decide later that you don’t need it anymore, you can make a cancellation for free. No risk involved booking in advance.

I have to give credit here where credit is due as the Russian Government set a minimum and maximum price for the World Cup. Hotels are not allowed to overcharge their rooms during the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Where to eat

A trip to Moscow can be expensive in itself already due to the flight, and hotel rates during the popular time of the year. If you decided to cut costs to a maximum, then sticking to popular fast food restaurants might be your best bet. McDonalds, Burger King, KFC and Subway can be found next to Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts.

You can stick pretty comfortable to a daily food budget of around $30 USD. Just like everywhere else in the world, if you want fancy food or western food, you will crush that limit very quickly. If you feel like local food, then check out one of these places.

Mu-Mu

This chain is a typical russian buffet-style restaurant with a lot of restaurants within the city center of Moscow. All the food is premade but with a small difference. You pay what you get literally. You pay for each piece of bread, each salad, each side dish. They do not have English menus yet but maybe by the time the Cup is running, they will start to offer it.

If not, you can just simply point or pick the dish you want as you can see all their offers in front of you. You must eat to a lot to even pay more than $10 USD at Mu-Mu. Their special lunch set starts at only $5 USD. How do you know if a restaurants is any good? If the locals like to go eat there just like the Russians do at Mu-Mu.

Burger Heroes

Are up for some Russian-style burgers? Head over to Burger Heroes with delicious cheeseburgers at a reasonable price of less than $5 USD. If you are there, try their “Agent 007” burger. It’s the bestseller! It’s a classic burger with cheddar cheese and bacon.

Teremok

Who does not like crepes? With over 20 locations in the city center of Moscow, you can find some russian-styled crepes with a high variety of stuffings. The most popular crepes among the locals is the one filled with ham & cheese. Trust me if I say the crepes are like a full meal.

Things to do in Moscow

If you have some downtime between the games that you want to watch at the FIFA cup, then I’d recommend you to check out a few tourist attractions while you are there. You never know when you get back to Moscow.

The Kremlin

You just cannot miss out on the Kremlin. It is a must-see for every travelers. That’s all I can say to this.

The Moscow Metro

It’s very likely that you will take the metro while being in Moscow, but make sure to just stop for a few minutes and take a look at the beautiful architecture.

The Arbat Street

This pedestrian street belongs to one of the most famous streets in Moscow. Located in a very historic part of Moscow, it is filled with a lot of street art, museums, shops and restaurants.

Space Museum

With the latest hype around Elon Musk and his company SpaceX, many people got interested again into space travel. If you have a few hours to spare, check out the Moscow Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics.

Ostankino TV Tower

This 540m tall tower is the tallest building in Europe. Back in 1967 when it was finished, it was even the highest building the in world. Now it’s mainly acting as a television and radio tower with an observation deck open to the public (highest restaurant in the world) called “The Seventh Heaven”. If you’d like to have a fancy night out with some great food, then this restaurant might be the best choice for you.